


Thirty-One Weeks

by mardemaravilla



Series: This Little Life Inside Of You [9]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Chelsea FC, M/M, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:38:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13472916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mardemaravilla/pseuds/mardemaravilla
Summary: At thirty-one weeks, Juan throws a baby shower for Fernando.





	Thirty-One Weeks

**Author's Note:**

> [**Here**](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/4/1354631687113/7d5e4b26-05fa-4931-bff9-3d85f507618f-680.jpeg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=c3108472d514afef83007c50b653ff28) is a nice little visual for this chapter ;)

At thirty-one weeks, Juan throws a baby shower for Fernando. Family and friends from both England and Spain are crammed into every corner of Juan's apartment and it's wonderful. It's wonderful to be around people he hasn't seen in almost a year or more, and Fernando feels happy in a way that he hasn't felt for his entire pregnancy.

When Sergio arrives, he moves to drag Fernando in for a tight hug but stops short, staring at the large belly between them. He shakes his head as if he's trying to wake himself and then looks at Fernando with awe.

"Nando… _look at you_ ," is all he can manage to say.

Fernando flushes and turns his body slightly sideways so that he can lean in to hug Sergio.

"I'm glad you made it, _amigo_. It's so good to see you again, finally."

Sergio nods, but he seems distracted by Fernando's belly.

"You're huge. I mean, I knew that you were pregnant, but you're _really pregnant_." He sounds almost confused.

Before Fernando can figure out a reply, Pepe Reina joins the conversation and shakes his head at Sergio.

"What did you expect? That he would be like the English say, with the bread inside the cooker?"

"You mean 'the bun in the oven'?" And they all burst out laughing.

Sergio shrugs, "I don't know. I guess seeing you in reality is just strange."

"It's been strange for me too," Fernando admits. "Seeing Olalla pregnant was one thing, but going through it myself has been something completely different."

Unbidden, the memory of his sorrow and depression in the earlier months comes to Fernando's mind. He pushes it away and focuses on the smiles of his friends who have travelled from near and far to see him and celebrate his child.

Laughter rings from every part of the room; some of the guys from the team are getting to know Fernando's older brother, Israel; Maria, Fernando's sister, is deep in conversation with Dr. Carniero and Paula, Juan's sister; Olalla is catching up with Villa's wife; Villa himself is in deep discussion with Frank and JT, and everything just feels right. Fernando sits in a comfortable chair watching everyone spending time together and having fun, and he feels a little teary-eyed.

"Are you all right?" Juan's voice is quiet amidst the enjoyable cacophony of sound, but Fernando doesn't miss it.

"Thank you for this. When everything began, I felt like I had no-one. Now, all these people are here and I feel…" Fernando trails off because there aren't any real words to express everything in his heart. He squeezes Juan's hand and hopes the younger man understands.

Juan perches on the arm of Fernando's chair with a soft, wistful smile, "We were always here. I think maybe for some parts of your journey the path was only wide enough for one person, but you were never alone, Fer. We've all been behind you, the entire way."

Fernando sniffles and glances down to discover the spatter of teardrops on the high curve of his belly. Juan hands him a tissue and strokes his hair fondly. He leans in to kiss Fernando’s forehead tenderly.

" _Te amo_ ," he murmurs softly against the freckled skin, and the sentiment spreads through the blond like a tingling warmth, all the way down to his toes.

"All right, all right. Enough of that, you two," Xabi calls out to them, and the entire room turns to see. Fernando can feel the burning heat of Juan's blush, but Xabi only laughs good-naturedly and says, "Stop cuddling and let's get the embarrassing party games out of the way."

 

It becomes something like chaos after that. Guests are walking around in diapers made of toilet paper, or with footballs stuffed under their shirts. In one corner, a group of people are playing Twister, trying to keep their ball-bellies above the mat, and in another corner, there's a game of bowling going on using weighted baby bottles as pins. Juan is involved in a ridiculous game where he has to hold a coin between his knees and waddle over to the other side of the room to try and deposit it into a small jar, all while keeping a ball tucked under his t-shirt. Fernando himself has been wrangled into a blindfolded baby food tasting game.

"I think…it's carrot?"

"That was your guess the last three times! It's not carrot!" Eden howls.

"It all tastes bad! Are you sure it's not carrot?!"

Eden's rowdy laughter is contagious and Fernando has to rush to the bathroom before the giggles get the better of his bladder.

 

After the games there is food. Juan ordered such a mixed spread that Fernando has everything from pizza to grilled mahi-mahi on his plate.

“It’s a menu of Fernando’s cravings throughout the pregnancy,” Juan explains when Dani Martin asks about the eclectic selection. “Spicy chorizo pizza, salmon in creamy mushroom risotto, sweet and sour chicken with noodles, fish and chips, chicken korma…I figured by the time the baby comes he’ll be sick of all this, so this is sort of a last hurrah. There’s fruit salad for dessert, as well as pickles and ice cream,” he teases.

Everyone relaxes as they eat, sipping on beer or wine, or Fernando’s pregnancy favourites, lemonade and sparkling water. Olalla sits close to Fernando on the couch as she chews her pizza.

“I can’t believe Juan remembered all of your cravings. Talk about attention to detail.”

Fernando laughs, “He made sure to choose cravings from each trimester too. I don’t know where he gets the energy or the time to notice these things and plan something like this.”

Olalla is quiet for a moment. There aren’t too many people close around them; most guests are obviously intrigued but confused by the dynamic Fernando and Olalla share after their divorce, and so they give them a wide berth, watching from a safe distance in case any hostility rears its head.

“He loves you. He’d do anything for you.”

His smile comes out more like a wince.

Things have been going well between him and Olalla in the weeks since their reconciliation; she's been arranging movie nights with the kids, offering Fernando some of her old pregnancy and parenting books, and giving him lots of pep talks on what a great father he already is and will continue to be.

He still loves her. He's loved her for so many years, and he can't imagine a day when he won't ever love her, but it's different now than it was before. If he hadn't done one stupid, reckless, selfish thing, everything could just be _normal_ , but he did, and there's no way to change that, so he doesn't blame Olalla one bit for deciding that it was too much to deal with. She's made it quite clear to him that although she doesn't want to be a part of his new circumstances, she still wants to be a part of his life, and the friendship they shared before and during their marriage still keeps them strong and close together.

"Don't make that face," she teases gently. "It's not like I never knew he had a huge crush on you. Sergio practically told me himself."

"He did what?! And you never told me, Oly?!"

She gestures easily, a slice of chorizo falling off of the pizza in her hand.

"After you won the World Cup, Sergio offered to step in if I thought Juan was getting too touchy with you. He was so drunk. I mean, most of you guys were, so at first I thought that's what he meant. I thought drunk Juan just liked to cuddle or something. But then afterwards, when he moved to London, I saw for myself how much he liked you." She picks the fallen sausage off of her jeans and pops it into her mouth casually, "He never seemed like a problem, and since you never said anything, I didn't either."

"Oh."

"Yeah." She fidgets a little before lowering her voice, "Listen, I said this to Juan already a couple months ago, but I think I should say it to you too. I'm sorry that I jumped to conclusions back when you first told me about the baby. I was upset, and I wanted to blame someone and he was the only person it made sense to blame. And then, I guess it made even less sense when you told me…well, you know."

Again, the crushing swell of regret and sorrow threaten to overcome him, but Fernando fights it away as best as he can.

"Are you still upset?" Fernando asks around the lump in his throat threatening to choke him.

Olalla shakes her head and then stops, considering.

"Well, of course I'm still sad things had to change between us the way they did. And I suppose I'm a little bit disappointed that Juan is putting in all this work and he doesn't really get to be the parent everyone here thinks he is."

“Oh,” he says again, but softer than before.

“He’s good to you. He’s good _for_ you. If it can’t be you and me, then I hope it can at least be you and him.”

Fernando takes it all in; his easy-going ex-wife with sausage grease on her designer jeans telling him how much she likes the guy who is in love with her ex-husband.

“Say something,” Olalla says, but there’s another teasing smile on her face.

Fernando clears the lump from his throat and the tears from his eyes. 

“You have pizza sauce on your face. Right there.”

**Author's Note:**

> ♕ Queen Oly ♕
> 
> How cute was this though?? It's probably my favourite part of this whole series. All the laughter and cheer!


End file.
